Lady ‘Cats defeat Karns, lock up district

A slow first half gave way to a fury in the second half as the Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats soccer team wrapped up home-field advantage in the District 3-AAA tournament with a 5-1 win over Karns.

Robert Holder

A slow first half gave way to a fury in the second half as the Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats soccer team wrapped up home-field advantage in the District 3-AAA tournament with a 5-1 win over Karns.

“We locked up home-field throughout the districts,” ORHS coach Tom Gorman said. “Plus, it helps us avoid Hardin Valley in that knock-out game. From that standpoint, it was a big win.”

Tied after the first 40 minutes of play, the Lady SoccerCats lit up the Lady Beavers with four goals in 20 minutes, including a pair of goals by Merritt Monger to cap off another hat trick for the senior.

“We may have overlooked them a little bit and maybe had a little bit of a hangover from last week with two big matches, but in the second half, they made the adjustments and brought more energy,” coach Gorman said.

The energy started from one of the smallest players on the team. Mariealaina “Mini” Bouchard drew a penalty kick in the 43rd minute and made good on the try to give the Lady ‘Cats (14-1-1) a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“It was a good sign to get ‘Mini’ going a little bit because she does so much for everybody else,” Gorman said. “She does kind of the dirty work that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.”

Peyton McCollumn had the other goal for Oak Ridge.

The Lady Wildcats will take on Dobyns-Bennett Saturday at noon at Pro2Serve Soccer Complex in their final regular season game. It is also “Think Pink” night for breast cancer awareness.